Air deployable drifter buoys are widely used in maritime search and rescue, tracking wreckage, persons in water, current tracking, environmental spill tracking and defense operations. Typically, the drifter buoys are equipped with sensors for sensing, for example, water temperature, air temperature, in regular intervals and providing the sensor data together with GPS position data to the operator via an antenna and satellite network.
One commonly used drifter buoy design complies with the Davis CODE Drifter buoy specification—four drag vanes of 19.7 in width and 27.6 in height with a midpoint of each drag vane being placed 25.6 in below the water surface—that will track the top meter of a body of water such as an ocean, which is advantageous for the various applications of drifter buoys as listed hereinabove. Most state of the art Davis CODE Drifter buoy designs employ ‘Argos’ satellite telemetry with control electronics being placed on a series of three Printed Circuit Board (PCB) assemblies connected to an antenna which has to be placed a substantial distance above the water surface and has to be powered by 10 Alkaline D-Cell batteries. Typically, the control electronics and batteries require a housing having a volume of approximately 345 in3 and the antenna requires a housing having a volume of approximately 27 in3.
Conformance with NATO A-size packaging specifications offers the ability to utilize common and standard air deployment infrastructure, equipment and procedures, thus deployment does not require special training for the operator. Furthermore, standard tools and equipment are already in place for the deployment of devices in conformance with NATO A-Size packaging specifications.
Furthermore, conformance with NATO A-Size packaging specifications substantially facilitates certification for air deployment by similarity to existing NATO A-Size products.
Unfortunately, none of the existing drifter buoy designs in compliance with the Davis CODE Drifter buoy specification are foldable to a size that fits in an air deployment tube in conformance with NATO A-Size packaging specifications—diameter 4.875 in and height 36.0 in resulting in a volume of 672 in3—with the typical foldable Davis CODE Drifter buoy designs requiring a deployment tube of approximately 8.5 in diameter and 40 in height resulting in a volume of 2270 in3.
It is desirable to provide an air deployable drifter buoy assembly with a foldable drifter buoy being accommodated in an air deployment tube in compliance with NATO A-Size packaging specifications and when deployed the drifter buoy being in compliance with Davis CODE Drifter specifications.
It is also desirable to provide an air deployable drifter buoy assembly with a foldable drifter buoy that can be unfolded absent utilization of compressed gas or pyrotechnic devices.